[nfb-talk] Intersections

Mon Dec 6 21:09:54 UTC 2010

John,

If blind people are likely to make mistakes on the streets, they shouldn't
be on the streets.  Just as drivers need to prove their qualification to sit
behind the wheel, pedestrians have the responsibility to travel safely
across intersections.  I am not in favor of the NFB spending money on
demonstrations against any Board to make the point that blind people do not
need the signals.  Even if they were widely accepted, they will never
populate every lighted corner, but my point was that I don't know what
measure of inspiration I was supposed to derive from this couple's so-called
advocacy when they can't navigate a street crossing.  Yes, there are
difficult intersections, but you sometimes stand there for a few cycles
until you figure out the pattern of traffic.  I certainly had to do that in,
for example, Houston's infamous Post Oak intersection.  If they can't get
across the street, that's fine.  There's nothing wrong with that, because
everyone has to get some measure of training or guidance to overcome such
obstacles, but it bugs me when people who very clearly are the ones in need
of assistance are the ones who proclaim everyone else ought to be able to do
whatever they want.  You cannot preach what you cannot practice.  Otherwise,
the show was irksome but no skin off my back.  The network is in it to pull
heart strings and scrounge ratings.  The general public is still going to
believe what they believe until we individually prove them otherwise, and at
the end of the day, the family is enjoying all their new home and
accessories while we sit here and argue about what could have been and
should have been.  If people are mad about it, I agree they should do
something about it.

Best,

Joe

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing 

-----Original Message-----
From: John Heim [mailto:john at johnheim.net] 
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 2:59 PM
To: jsorozco at gmail.com; NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] [NFB-talk] Here We Go Again: Home 
Makeover-blindcouple in OH

Yeah, a driver can still make a mistake and the audible signal 
won't protect 
you. But audible walk signals aren't to keep drivers from 
making mistakes. 
They're to keep blind people from making mistakes. And they're 
really good 
for that.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe Orozco" <jsorozco at gmail.com>
To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 12:51 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] [NFB-talk] Here We Go Again: Home 
Makeover-blindcouple in OH

> If there's a light, it's not difficult.  A car is just as 
likely to hit 
> you
> in a lighted intersection with or without an audible signal.  If the
> crossing is done without stop signs or some other type of 
traffic control,
> then I agree something is required, but I think audible 
signals should be
> enhancers if used, not requirements.
>
> Joe
>
> "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up 
their sleeves,
> some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Heim [mailto:john at johnheim.net]
> Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 1:32 PM
> To: jsorozco at gmail.com; NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] [NFB-talk] Here We Go Again: Home
> Makeover -blindcouple in OH
>
> She didn't say it was too much of a challenge to cross the street. She
> demonstrated how difficult it is.  Sometimes, it is difficult.
> There are
> intersections where having an accessible pedestrian signal 
makes it way
> easier and way safer for a blind person to cross. Its 
impossible to say
> whether an accessible pedestrian signal was really necessary on
> that corner
> but I see no reason to doubt it. I say when in doubt, put the 
signal in.
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Joe Orozco" <jsorozco at gmail.com>
> To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 11:18 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] [NFB-talk] Here We Go Again: Home
> Makeover -blindcouple in OH
>
>
>> You know, if they were willing to give me all them there
> gifts, I'll be
>> glad
>> to accept them and simultaneously correct their misconceptions of
>> blindness.
>> A win/win!  LOL  I'm just curious to hear what it is they
> counsel people
>> about empowerment if the street intersection is too much of a
> challenge?
>>
>> Joe
>>
>> "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up
> their sleeves,
>> some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
>> [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Rovig, Lorraine
>> Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 12:02 PM
>> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] [NFB-talk] Here We Go Again: Home
>> Makeover - blindcouple in OH
>>
>> Here We Go Again: Home Makeover Extreme Edition - blind couple in OH
>>
>> Well, I watched it. It was pretty bad and it could have been 
worse. It
>> could have been a lot better too.
>>
>> Their original bathroom -- a sink fell off the wall once when Jasmine
>> washed her hands so they had no bathroom sink; the old toilet would
>> swivel left and right about 20 degrees either way if your toe
> pushed it.
>> Other parts of the old home and front porch were dangerous.
> The part of
>> the old house facing the street appeared to be two-rooms wide, small
>> rooms, and I do not remember if it was two-story.  They were given a
>> two-story, large, modern home with all new appliances in the kitchen,
>> laundry room, every other room, and etcetera.
>>
>> This is an African-American family, the Andersons of Maple
> Heights, Ohio
>> (near Cleveland). I do not know if either one has a job; both
> appear to
>> be in their early 40s.  The mother, Jasmine, states she is visually
>> impaired. She uses a folding cane with a fat white tip that I
> think is a
>> marshmallow tip.  Husband, Andre, pronounced the French way,
> is totally
>> blind and uses a guide dog named Valentine. The show gave the dog a
>> heart-shaped bed.
>>
>> Jasmine gave a tiny monologue stating she lost enough sight to be
>> visually impaired and was depressed for awhile but then she became
>> "courageous" like she is now. They never charge for their [untrained]
>> counseling and encouragement of other people with disabilities. They
>> give lots of speeches to educate the community how to make 
life easier
>> for blind people and people with other disabilities.
>>
>> The couple told us they are in danger every time they cross a
> street and
>> the camera mike was held close to trucks and cars as vehicles
> zoomed by
>> on a city street. Jasmine said she was hit in the shoulder 
by a moving
>> car one time. Ty Pennington, the shows' big-hearted hero,
>> furniture-designer and designer of his own line of linens and other
>> goods for the home, excellent carpenter and TV show leader, went on
>> about how dangerous it is for blind people every day when they are
>> outside the home. He got installed for the Andersons a fancy talking
>> device at the single crossing nearest to their home at their 
bus stop.
>> Jasmine told us "we're not the only blind people living here,
> you know"
>> and, she said, this will help people with other disabilities 
that live
>> in their neighborhood too.
>>
>> The show gave her a CCTV rigged to a lady's dressing table so she can
>> see to put on her make-up and not have to ask her son if she did it
>> okay. She got choked up that she can see her nails now and can paint
>> them as she could not see to do before, and for the first time she
>> exclaims, as we watch her look at it, she can see the
> beautiful ring her
>> husband gave her.
>>
>> In the old house, Jasmine shoved up the sleeves on her dress
> to show Ty
>> and us the many burns on her arms that she got from using her
>> conventional electric 4-burner stove and oven.  The show gave her
>> "induction heating" which does not give out any heat except 
to a metal
>> pot placed on the burner, and she got a wall oven so her oven is at a
>> better height for her to use. The house got a talking
> temperature gauge.
>> On the plus side, so the two wouldn't get lost, nothing odd was built
>> into the kitchen or the walls and floors.  Also on the plus
> side, except
>> for the induction oven, normal if fancy Sears's appliances 
were placed
>> in the home for the kitchen and the baths.
>>
>> Both Andre and Jasmine got computers that I think had JAWS
> installed on
>> them. They got a home theatre room with one "Sound Dome" over
> both their
>> heads that directs the sound directly only to them, and lets 
them hear
>> the SAP channel along with the show. They have two very helpful,
>> respectful sons (one may be age 12 and the other is a young 
teenager).
>> Ty stated the older son got a vacation from verbalizing what is on
>> screen plus he got the SAP thing with words running below the screen
>> when folks talked (which he needed but I missed the part 
that said why
>> he did). The younger son is sure he wants to grow up to be an
> eye doctor
>> so he can cure blindness, beginning with his mother's visual
> impairment.
>>
>> Both Jasmine and Andre got brand new, fat-bodied, folding canes that
>> have built-in sensors to inform them of obstacles by their 
head and at
>> their feet, and, said Ty, "these aren't even on the market 
yet." Andre
>> expressed their gratitude.
>>
>> They got a huge main room that runs from a living room
> grouping through
>> an empty space of floor to a dining room grouping to a 
kitchen with no
>> barriers or changes in floor, so they do not have to worry
> anymore about
>> running into posts or walls, as they did run into in their cramped
>> original home.  I noticed they are both bulky overweight
> people and the
>> original house doorways were older and appeared smallish, plus a post
>> was inconveniently placed, especially for any overweight 
people trying
>> to get past it to the bedrooms and bathroom.
>>
>> The mortgage company paid off and tore up their mortgage; the local
>> branch of the state college gave them 2 college scholarships for the
>> boys; Sears gave the four of them enough clothes and shoes to
> fill some
>> of their new closets; the local basketball team called The Cavaliers,
>> gave the teen-aged son a closet-full of their clothes plus
> 3-shelves of
>> their basketballs with its metal rack. The building company gave them
>> $50,000 to a fund to handle their home maintenance.
>>
>> Braille got a "shout out" as the modern lingo has it. Ty
> added palm-size
>> wooden "dots" to their bed's headboard to spell out in grade
> one, "Love
>> is Blind."  Large print got a "shout out" too, with their top
> bed quilt
>> decorated with "Love is Blind" sewn on as stuffed, raised-up
>> hand-writing.
>>
>> (For me, I keep wondering how they and other Ty Pennington-show
>> homeowners can afford their new taxes on their giant gifts of money,
>> goods, and a huge new home.)
>>
>> The Andersons were so very grateful for all they received from Ty and
>> Sears Company and ABC. Tears all around.
>>
>> You can view the entire episode on the Anderson Family via computer,
>> here:
>> http://abc.go.com/shows/extreme-makeover-home-edition
>> Anderson Family
>>  | Full Episode
>> A visually impaired couple devoted to helping the community 
receives a
>> home makeover, complete with technologies that help people with
>> disabilities;
>> EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION - "Anderson Family" - Andre 
and Jasmine
>> Anderson have never allowed their visual impairment to slow 
them down,
>> but rather have faced it head on, and established the Disability
>> Awareness Center in Maple Heights, Ohio, to help others who are
>> struggling with sight loss. The couple and their sons learned
> they would
>> be recipients of a home makeover while aboard the public bus 
that they
>> ride every day. The "EM: HE" team surprised them on the bus
> and revealed
>> plans to give them a new "smart" home, equipped with 
technologies that
>> support people with disabilities. This episode of "Extreme Makeover:
>> Home Edition" airs SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC
>> Television Network. (ABC/MIKE CROUCH) ANDERSON FAMILY HOME - AFTER -
>> BEDROOM
>>
>>
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